


In The Woods Somewhere

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Yugioh Advent 2018 [12]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Witchcraft, Angst, Animal Transformation, Dark, Dark Magic, Foxes, Heavy Angst, M/M, Shapeshifting, Transformation, Witches, hurt animal warning, no animals die, yugioh advent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-12
Updated: 2018-12-12
Packaged: 2019-09-17 12:40:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16974729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: An awfull noise filled the airI heard a scream, in the woods somewhereYugi's village is gone, he's the only survivor after a horrible massacre, yet he finds that he isn't alone in his suffering





	In The Woods Somewhere

**Author's Note:**

> Day 12 of Yugioh Advent 2018- Heinous
> 
> I heard Hozier's "In The Woods Somewhere" and I think my soul left my body, naturally I had to write a witch fic for it
> 
> **Warning: An animal is hurt in this fic, but does _not_ die**\- it'll heal
> 
> ~~I find it much more important to warn for hurt animals than hurt people~~

The pain was nothing short of excruciating

His breaths came out in large, heavy gasps, his eyes hurt from all of the tears, his chest still heaved and his body still shook

Everything was hot

Everything was numb

Everything was still

He felt ill

He was in pain

He prayed for death

All around him was nothing but ash

The ashes of his family, of his village, of everyone he had ever known or loved, and he could just.... he could just _die_ right then and there and it would be a releif

Why was he alive?

Why in the hell was he still alive to suffer through this agony?

His hands burried themselves into the soil, his body still trembling, ashes stained his pale skin and he let out another sob

He didn't know who's they were

He didn't know who's ashes were in his grip

The entire village was ash now and there was no sense in trying to identify one from another

They were all gone, and nothing would bring them back, no matter how strong he was, no matter how powerfull, how gifted or talented, he knew that nothing could cross the border of death

....

Well, almost nothing

But there were some lines that he was just entirely unwilling to cross, some prices he couldn't pay

Though he wondered, did that make him selfish?

Was he selfish for refusing to dirty his soul to bring back dozens of lives?

What was one life, for dozens?

What was one soul, for many?

What cost could be too much for the soul of his grandfather?

What price too high for the life of his mother?

What burden too heavy for the return of his freinds?

Was he selfish for refusing to make that leap?

For refusing to take that chance?

His mother and grandfather had always taught him that dark magic was the enemy, that he should never tempt it, could never trust it, must never use it

But when dark magic ravaged him the way it had, how could they possibly blame him for dipping his toes into the River Styx?

He let another layer of tears roll down his cheeks as he considered it, as he thought about the sacrifice he would have to make to bring them back, to bring them _all_ back

But he didn't get the chance to think for long

Suddenly there was a scream, a horrible, awfull, nightmare inducing scream of agony, and it came from the woods

Wasting no time, Yugi climbed to his feet, stumbling up and racing into the woods

He had no weapon

He had no aid

But he didn't need anything

Not when he had his magic to help him

His legs felt almost as though they didn't exist as they ran

His entire body was so weak and shook so heavily from exhaustion and greif that everything was one big surreal blur of motion and he couldn't feel any of it, he was so busy feeling the suffering of his emotional pain, that his physical senses were almost completely gone

The scream echoed through the woods again, and the young witch hurried along

His wrist flicked, and a small flame appeared in his palm, a light to guide him through the darkness

How desperately he wished he had a light to guide him through the other darkness he was stumbling through....

He followed the sounds of the screaming, he raced towards it, he didn't know why

Did he hope that someone else had escaped?

Did he pray for something he knew could not be?

Did he wish hopelessly against the odds even though he knew that the cold truth would only break his heart all over again?

It didn't matter, in the end, did it?

Finally, he found the source of the crying, and when he did, he wasn't sure how to react

Before him lay a fox, clearly in pain, staring up at him with large, pleading eyes

There was a massive wound on his leg, the bone shone clean in the moonlight, and there was so much blood that Yugi felt ill from staring at it

This was beyond his capabilities as a healer

The fox was already nearing death, he could sense it, he could see it in the animal's eyes

He was in pain, and Yugi was in pain just looking at him

The thing is, he had always believed that the gods deliver what you need in life, in their own strange ways, and what Yugi needed was a sacrifice

A life for a life

That's how dark magic worked

If he sacrificed a living thing, he would have the power to bring back the dead

And this poor creature.... wouldn't it be mercifull, to put him out of his misery?

Could Yugi really feel guilty when he was really just .... sparing the poor thing some pain, and sending him to a better place?

Wouldn't he be committing an act of mercy?

Wouldn't he be doing the right thing?

He stared into the creature's eyes, watched the little thing shake, and suddenly all of his resolve was gone

He burst into tears, collapsing to the ground in greif and screaming over and over and over again

How could he ever consider such a thing?

How could his heart have become so dark?

How could someone who loved all living things the way he did ever for a moment think of serving one to the gods as a sacrifice for dark magic?

He sobbed and screamed, agony coursing through him again

Because for a moment, he had had hope

For a moment, he had thought of what could happen if he had his loved ones back

For a moment...

For a moment....

The moment had passed and all that was left was greif

He felt something warm and wet again his hand and slowly looked up, watching the fox as it licked his hand soothingly

This poor creature....

With all of the pain and suffering he was in, and not knowing the dark thoughts that had run through Yugi's head, he tried to provide the witch with some comfort in his own pained state

If only people were like that

If only people were so pure-hearted

And that was it

That was the moment when he came up with an idea

Perhaps a wicked idea, but it took wickedness to slay wickedness, didn't it?

Sniffing quietly, he reached out and slowly started to pet the fox's head, magic beginning to course through him

The thing is, he had only minimal powers in healing.....

But in transfiguration, he was quite good

And a wound that may lead to certain death for a fox, might only be a small problem for a human

Suddenly the fox was gone, and what lay before him, beneath his hand, was a man, only slightly bigger than the witch himself, with soft brown skin, bright red eyes, and an appearance otherwise quite similar to Yugi's own

The creature looked confused and a bit afraid, but Yugi didn't give that any mind, wasting no further time in reaching out and sweeping his hand over the fox-turned-man's injured leg

A small gasp left the fox-turned-man as he moved his leg, clearly amazed, before turning his attention back to Yugi and staring sympathetically into his eyes

"Why..... do you hurt?" he asked quietly, his voice deep, rumbling through his chest like a purr as he reached a hand up and slowly began to wipe away Yugi's tears

"Don't ... don't cry," he pleaded quietly, seemingly in pain on Yugi's behalf as the salty liquid spilled onto the fox-turned-man's dark skin

"Please..... don't cry,"

Yugi shook his head slowly, a hand coming up to carefully take the fox-turned-man's wrist and press it against his cheek, savoring the touch, short as it may be, before leaning down and giving him a soft, gentle kiss to the lips- sealing a contract, if nothing else

This creature was so innocent and gentle, and Yugi was about to turn him into a monster

He was already sorry, but his choices were gone, this was all he had left

"Come with me," he instructed quietly, climbing to his feet and helping the fox-turned-man to do the same, watching as the creature stared at his new body in wonder and amazement

"Someone has done something awfull to us," Yugi said softly, his eyes staring up into the creature's bright red irises

He had recognized the distinctive cut of a blade against the fox's leg earlier, it had been no animal to cause that wound, it had been a person, and Yugi was willing to bet that the person who burned his village down was the same to injure the fox

He knew exactly who it was, and he knew exactly why they would do such a thing

The other witch had clearly needed to replenish his dark magic with a blood sacrifice after expending so much magic on destroying Yugi's village, and after drawing what he needed of the fox, he had left him to die in the woods

Just thinking about it made Yugi feel so ill that he could feel the bile rising in his throat, but he resisted the urge to give into that sick feeling

"Someone hurt you, and ... that same someone hurt me, so you and I are going to find that someone, and we are going to use them to heal ourselves,"

He could not harm an innocent creature

He couldn't

....

But the beast who had taken his village and hurt this fox was not innocent, and Yugi could stand to sacrifice him

He could stand to give into the darkness if it was darkness he was disposing of

He only regretted dirtying the innocent fox's hands in the process

"Are you with me?"

"Yes," the fox said immediately, gently squeezing Yugi's hands

"I am with you,"

"Good," he nodded slowly, turning his back on the woods and squeezing his new partner's hand, beginning to lead him through the trees, perfectly aware of the eyes watching him, perfectly aware that _it_ was watching

He hoped it was

He hoped it knew that they were coming for it, to correct the sins it had committed

"Then come with me, we have so much work to do.... _Atem_ ,"


End file.
